On Dec 1, 2011 the creators and manufacturers of the All Weather Safe Room decided to donate a tornado safe room to a young couple in Madison, Alabama after their home was completely demolished during the April 27, 2011 Huntsville tornado. All that remained of their property was a make-shift tornado safe room they had created out of cinder-block – luckily for their sake, it held up, if only barely…

Flash.org and CNN got wind of the story and decided to bring out their camera crews to also record this wonderful event. We also were able to capture some great footage of the entire install process from unloading the tornado safe room off the trailer to locating it in place and installing it in Kevin’s garage, which you can view below.

As you’ll hear in another video regarding these All Weather Safe Rooms, the installation process is such that you can actually install the tornado shelter in your garage and should you decide to move, you can actually just call us up and we can reinstall your tornado safe room if you like to take the safe room with you to your next house. Or, you can leave it in place and add approximately $10,000 to the value of your home as in the case of the tornado safe room as configured in the video below.

Essentially though, with a trained and certified installation crew and the proper materials and tools, installation of the All Weather Safe Room can be completed within an hour or so from start to finish. The unit weighs several thousand pounds (the heavy-duty door itself weighs 350 lbs) so while it may look easy to install in the video, it’s simply the result of using the right tools and understanding the install method to ensure the shelter is installed correctly so that it can protect from a severe Huntsville tornado (even an F-5 Huntsville tornado), as tested by the Texas Tech University Wind Science Center, the premiere tornado testing facility.

Once installed, the All Weather Safe Room can not only protect you as a tornado safe room from severe weather as mentioned, but it can also double as a safe (to store valuables like guns, ammunition, precious metals, coins, and other valuables) as well as a panic room in case of burglarly. (We can also custom build safe rooms to guard against fire and larger bullets, if desired).

I’ve always heard of storm cellars but not a tornado safe room. My issue would be if the house is not build well. One year here in Southern Illinois we had a bad wind sheer that also brought in an F1. The house I was living in at the time, well, I thought that I was going to be carried to Oz. So, would one of those rooms have to be put more onto the house foundation?

Hey Nile, these tornado safe rooms install right into the concrete slab in your garage for example and are rated to withstand debris from an F5 tornado. Unfortunately, homes are not designed to withstand winds or impact from debris from tornadoes – especially the big ones. The only two options really are to go underground into an engineered, tested storm shelter (like a Lifesaver Storm Shelter) or above ground in an engineered safe room (like the All Weather Safe Room).

Hans, I have so much admiration for companies that provide life-saving help for tornado stricken regions. Having only recently moved to the US, I had no idea what devastation a tornado could create. Then I watched Extreme Home Makeover in Joplin and I was “blown away” with the stories. It was incredible anyone survived that disaster. These storm shelters should be in every home in these vulnerable areas and giving one to a family is an awesome gesture of giving. Thank you for making a difference to this world and the people within it.

Hey Clare, thank you for the kind words. I heard recently that the US has 95% of the world’s natural disasters. Not sure if that’s true or not but with all the severe weather, blizzards, floods, hurricanes… it seems about right. I visited Joplin recently and even at night it’s just devastating to see the hills in the middle of the city without trees, without homes, without life. These storms are powerful and deadly, and I too cannot believe that more people do not already have some kind of proven tornado shelter, be it a safe room or storm shelter. Hopefully these recent tragic events wake people up and more people take the risks seriously and take action to protect their families so more lives aren’t lost unnecessarily.

If you have ever experienced a tornado you can understand the rason Safe rooms are becoming popular storm shelter choices. In early April 2006, we experienced a massive F-3 tornado which did lots damage to our house. We were in our basement during the storm. About 2 miles from us a house was devastated and a woman was paralyzed. Hans the information that you provide in this post helps one to see how easy they are they can have protection during a tornado.

Hey Perry, yes it is a very serious issue, literally life and death. You may have seen the photos on our site of a home after a F-5 tornado hit, wiping the house completely off its foundation, but luckily they had an underground Lifesaver LS10 shelter that saved the lives of those 8 people. The massive storms that hit Alabama last April are bringing this reality into the spotlight which is getting people to take action and get prepared. Thanks for your comment Perry!

Hello Hans! I used to live in Dallas, Texas close to the Texas Pan Handle that’s very tornado prone. I’ve been fascinated by tornadoes ever since. Now I live in Oregon, where even there aren’t as many tornadoes, but we’d be fools to not prepare for one.

The video is very informative. Basically, the Tornado Safe is like an indestructible elevator.

I like the idea of being able to move the Tornado Safe Room, should you need to move to another house. Or leave it and add value to your property. I also like the idea of doubling it as a safe for your valuables.

This is an amazing story. Where I live, we are exposed to the potential of hurricanes every year. When Hurricane Ike came through, it turned a peninsula into an island and 95% of the homes on that peninsula were destroyed. How sad. It is a breath of fresh air to see stories like this. Thanks for sharing.